Different
by Laemya
Summary: Set shortly after episode 15. Michael gets his current worries and doubts off his chest, while looking for reassurance, through a mostly onesided argument with Sakaki. Main focus on Michael.


**Different**

**_A Story Brought to You by:_**

**Laura "HOLYCOWWHENDIDIWRITETHIS" Laurent**

_**And by:**_

**The owners and such of Witch Hunter Robin, who aren't me.**

**And reviewers like you.**

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"Being different never hurt." He said, brushing strands of polished chestnut hair from his sight. It was a thoughtless gesture. It corresponded seamlessly with his thoughtless words. His fingers pressed rounded buttons, on both worn electronics and worn patience.

The blonde boy bit his tongue so hard he thought it would bleed. Words welled up like blood and he choked on the taste of opposition and copper. Coughing, he wiped his mouth and found his hand tinted a faint pink, but maybe it was the light. He coughed again, holding back the words that threatened to come out; holding them back until he was sure of their meaning.

He trusted his fingers, not his mouth.

A grey-eyed glance was rapidly pried away from a tiny illuminated screen, directed towards the choking, and then taken back as rapidly. He was obviously certain everything would be fine. But the fleeting look was taken away before given the time to truly assess the situation, like always.

And to those grey eyes, there was nothing in the room to worry about other than flashing lights and sounds. Everything would be fine.

The blonde's mouth turned down at the sides as he watched grey eyes stare into the screen.

Everything was not fine. It hadn't been fine since…

He thought of her green eyes anda sharp pain sliced through his chest,before dullingto a familiar ache. Wincing, he closed his eyes tightly, and began calculating his words.

Fingers pressed rounded buttons without care.

'Pay attention,' he willed silently. The other gracefully ignored his request. He brushed his brown hair back from his purple-grey eyes and cursed loudly at the game. Waves of hurt flooded the room but the grey eyes were unaffected. Everything was fine.

Cautiously, blonde boy spoke. His tongue and heart throbbed in painful coordination. "Okay, so, what about Hitler and the Jews? What about the Witch Trials? Those hurt people pretty bad for being different, if I recall correctly." He smiled ruefully, thought the brunette didn't notice. "And it's hurting people now. Being different is. We're hurting them…"

The grey eyes didn't even look up in response, still the blonde continued. All the fears, the words he never said came out like a confession of sins.

"We're hurting them for being different. Like Robin." He said, his heart panging at the mention of her name. Ignoring it, he stared hard at the brunette, blue eyes craving contact. "…Like you."

The grey eyes seemed to cloud, but maybe it was the light. Blonde boy choked again as words flew into his mouth faster than he could say them. They spilled over like an overflowing cup.

"You are just like them. You are different like them." He said. "You are just like the people you hurt." He inhaled deeply. "You are only working for people who aren't. A pawn."

No response.

Impassioned, he let the words bleed freely from him. "And when they are done with you, what happens then? They hunted Kate. They hunted Robin. What makes you think you won't be next? Haruto, you are just like them." He coughed again, desperate for some sort of acknowledgement, reassurance. He needed to know everything would be okay.

The brunette refused to look up, even as the screen faded out and an electronic voice cried out his failure. Without the glow of the screen, he looked much older than seventeen, drained of color. An uncharacteristically tired look took over his face, his eyes glazed with thought. He sub-consciously pressed buttons on the handheld, though the screen stayed black.

The blonde's pale hand reached to take the game but was stopped by the brunette's. The grey-eyed boy's grasp was firm but the hacker could feel it shaking like a scared animal.

He stared at their hands; one bony and pale, one calloused and strong. They were so different, and he wondered why they were created that way if it meant an early death for at least one of them.

He looked at Sakaki, taking in the features of his face, eyes drifting to the necklace, softly glowing green.

Staring, he realized he didn't understand anymore and he finally felt his age, like a sixteen year old boy ripped from the world. He tried to think of the answers that would have come so clearly before: why were they doing this and what made us so different from them? None of the answers seemed to make enough sense; they all seemed too vague. The hacker felt vulnerable and scared. He needed reassurance.

"You are a Witch, Haruto." He whispered frantically. "They'll kill you."

The silence that followed was shattered by the crash of the GameBoy hitting the tile.

Wearily, grey met blue and Sakaki sighed, dropping the other boy's hand. Looking at the electronic on the floor, he shrugged and stood, making no motion to pick it up. The hacker watch quietly as the other boy tried to balance himself with the crutches. Once settled, Sakaki smiled weakly, brushing his brown hair from his line of vision.

"Michael, things don't always work out the way they plan." He said.

He had not said, "Michael, everything will be fine." And Sakaki knew, as did the blonde boy, that everything was not fine.

'And,' they thought together, 'it won't be for a while.'

Michael swallowed the rest of his words and fears and watched Sakaki quietly limp away.

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Well, that was different. Most of what I wrote was like: **

**"OMGWTF. I didn't write that! Did I? ****DO I ENTER SOME STATE OF UNCONSIOUSNESS WHILE MY COMPUTER TAKES OVER MY BODY AND WRITES CONFUSING FICTION WITH NO EVIDENT PLOT AND CRAPPY SYMBOLISM?"**

**But...I like my crappy symbolism. And lack of plot. And subtle Michael/Sakaki that I somehow managed to sneak in there even though I made Michael emo for Robin. I don't know how these things happen, I swear!**

**Okay, so anyway, I kind of like this piece. It's set not long after the attack on the STN-J, when Amon and Robin went missing. Of course, they all thought it was Robin being hunted. And Haruto broke his leg, so he staying with Michael during hunts and such and that's why Michael and Haruto were alone in this. **

**I felt that Michael was deeply concerned about Robin, and that maybe he might have started to worry about his actions when she left. I also get the impression from Michael that he cared for Kate, and, obviously, Robin, and they were both hunted and disappeared from his life and since Haruto is a craft-user, Michael might be afraid to lose him as well and since he knows Haruto's tendency to be reckless, he might like reassurance. **

**So I think that's all I wanted to say. This can be confusing. I don't know why I called Michael "Blonde Boy"; I don't know why I repeated certain lines more than once. It probably seemed relevant at the time. I also don't know why I'm justifying my actions! Yaaay.**

**CRAZY MUCH? **

**-LAURA**


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